1. Field of the Invention
An electronic part such as a rotary- or sliding-type variable resistor, a rotary- or sliding-type code switch or the like which finds use in electronic apparatus includes a board on which various patterns are formed, a casing, and a slider having contacts brought into sliding contact with the patterns formed on the board. The board is fixed to the bottom of the casing and the slider is supported on the board so as to rotate or slide freely. The components such as the board, the casing and the slider are manufactured as separate elements and are subsequently assembled into a finished electronic part by an assembly process.
As the result of success in achieving a reduction in the size and thickness of electronic parts, it has also been attempted to reduce the size and thickness of the casings for rotary- or sliding-type variable resistors and rotary-or sliding-type switches in recent years. However, since the rotary- and sliding-type electronic parts of the conventional construction are composed of elements that are manufactured separately and then assembled into a whole, there is a limitation upon the size and thickness reduction that can be achieved. The more progress that is made in reducing size and thickness, the more difficult it is to assemble the individual elements into the finished product.
2. Description of the Related Art
An electronic part that has recently been developed is disclosed in the specification of Japanese Patent Public Disclosure (KOKAI) No. 62-49601, by way of example. In this electronic part, electric conductor patterns for electrodes and resistor patterns are formed on a synthetic resin film in such a manner that the resistor patterns are connected to the electric conductor patterns, metallic terminals are fixedly secured to the film to form a terminal portion, and both the terminal portion and the reverse side of the synthetic resin film are molded in a synthetic resin.
Though a reduction in the size and thickness of an electronic part can be obtained by fabricating the casing of a rotary- or sliding-type electronic part through use of the aforementioned technique in which a sYnthetic resin film is molded of a synthetic resin, various problems need to be solved to achieve this. For example, one problem is how to design the terminal structure formed on the top surface of the film and connected to the terminals of the various patterns.